Body Death

From our friend Brian Lambert, another in his series of essays about the Tone Scale.

These affirmations are the true representation of L Ron Hubbard. These affirmations are who he was – hidden behind the hypno-manipulation of his marketed messiahship.

Wrapping up my analysis of the Tone Scale

I cannot get past the thought that L. Ron Hubbard’s tone scale is his delivery system for manipulating “meanings and melodies” of words. He states it in the affirmations as a goal. And what is the tone scale in essence? It’s all simple words given a value, by numbers, which alter their “melodies” according to Hubbard’s strategic, well thought through placement. Hubbard was not stupid. He knew the power of definitions. He created extremely exacting Scientology courses based on understanding the power of word definitions. This master of word definitions did not give number value to tone scale words arbitrarily.

Assigning low numbers to words like sympathy, that defines vital emotional intimacy, devalues the interpersonal loyalties of our human connections, through the redefining (demonizing) of emotions. The same redefining and demonization of familial loyalty is imprinted in the Scientologist’s mind by Hubbard declaring “families are bad groups” in the GE is a Family Man.

Yet, there are just enough common sense linear numerical relations in the tone scale to make the mind say,”this is ALL true”. Then, with the perverted numerical relations like grief, sympathy and accountable we simply accepted their position on the tone scale because “Ron said so.” After all, it is in writing, so it’s demanded to be perceived as true and enforced to be true under threat of punishment.

The tone scale seems so harmless and benevolent. But just look at what he did to grief, sympathy and accountability.

Without sympathy, accountability and sometimes tears there is no deep intimate familial relation. Through this perversion of words, loyalty and love between friends and family can be unwittingly devalued. It certainly is devalued in Scientology.

I sympathize with the pain of my family and friends, I cop to my shit with my wife (accountable) and sometimes cry for losing my mom or cry when I make a difficult learning breakthrough in my relationship with my wife. These are not “misemotions”. They are the normal, natural tools and means of our emotional intimacy; something that is foreign to psychopaths and sociopaths who consider sympathetic emotions a weakness – lower on the tone scale.

Ron got us all to agree with the hypnotic command “Ron said so” and “if it’s not in writing it’s not true”. The idea, “Ron said so,” is the very mindset of freely accepting his ideas into our minds, that causes a bypassing of our ability to reason, doubt, question and be constructively critical. These sovereign powers of intellectual freedom are outlawed, hunted down, punished and destroyed in Scientology, by Ron’s Stasi mind control of ethics (now there’s a word: ethics – that has been definitionally degraded) and threats of black ops military style violence against families and individuals who dare to be free thinkers.

How Ron accomplished the enslavement of the minds of others is a never ending curiosity for me.I deconstruct sympathy, grief and accountable in earlier posts on this blog.

Now I’d like to take a look at ‘body death’ and it’s perverted numerical relation with other words:

It is “Higher Toned” to be dead than accountable

Body Death is not an emotion! That is completely false. Body Death is a process of nature. Death is the destruction of forms and objects. It is NOT an emotion. It is definitional manipulation to define death as an emotion.

We can certainly have emotions regarding the idea or reality of body death: we can be happy, sad, afraid or feel terror towards death. Those are real emotions.

Death 0.0 on the tone scale is a physical process, it’s not an emotion!

So why did he place this non emotion on the Emotional Tone Scale as a demarcation between positive and negative numbers? Those tones below death must be pretty darn non survival and aberated one would think.

Let’s take a look at those words below death. Get ready for a WTF moment:

It’s higher toned to be dead than be accountable!

It’s higher toned to be dead than making amends!

It’s higher toned to be dead than having pity!

It’s higher toned to be dead than having regrets!

It’s higher toned to be dead than feeling ashamed!

It’s higher toned to be dead than blaming or being blamed!

It’s higher toned to be dead than to have failed!

Anyone who attempts to justify and agree with these absurd numerical relations is experiencing mind control and is in a hypnotic state. They should be treated as a casualty of Hubbard’s accomplishment of controlling the minds of men.

Tell me, do you think it’s higher toned to be DEAD or ACCOUNTABLE?

Reason: Hubbard’s Real SP

Only a little bit of reason and questioning will reveal the answer to the above question.

But the believing Scientologist cannot be reasonable or question or be open minded. It’s a High Crime to question Ron. Teaching that questions and free thinking are High Crimes is the lynch pin that secures an enslaved mind.

Whatever Ron says goes directly into the mind and bypasses reason and logic – the essential intellectual powers of mind needed to separates lies from truth and acquire accurate knowledge.

If you cannot question something you cannot know it’s nature. Unquestioned acceptance of information is a form of hypnotism.

Last Thoughts

Where are the affirmations:

My work will heal people

My knowledge brings happiness to others

I bring truth to confusion for others

I bring peace to discord

I transform hate into love – etc etc etc.

Compare these to “all men are my slaves” and you will know who this man was.

Lafayette Ronald Hubbard was a supreme master at psycho-manipulation to acquire power and status. Changing the meaning and melody of words is only one of the ways he accomplishes taking over your mind.

By degenerating the value and meanings of words that represent familial and friendship loyalties, Hubbard redirected those loyalties to him and his money making machine called Scientology.

Hubbard unwittingly reveals, with disturbing accuracy, the true character of Scientology in the definition of psycho-politics that HE wrote in the Brain Washing Manual:

“The art and science of asserting and maintaining dominion over the thoughts and loyalties of individuals, officers, bureaus, and masses, and the effecting of the conquest of enemy nations through ‘mental healing.”

Welcome to the world of Scientology. To quote Mike Rinder – “What the f#@k were we part of?”

I find it very telling of the people who are well trained Scientologists, that they never address ideas. They never give counter arguments based upon reasonable exchange of actual original and intellectually inspired view points.

What they do is ad hominem. They, and I mean almost all of the critics, attack the person for having their views. They don’t express their own original ideas that counter the opposing idea.

They attack the person for having such a “suppressive” idea.

Or they will suggest L Ron Hubbard’s view, read some book, listen to some tapes; all of L Ron Hubbard. But they have no thoughts of their own.

Their argument boils down to such a sophmoric simplicity:

1) you are wrong, bad or evil
2) you have an MU

That is the only argument I have ever heard from most apologists: your ideas suck. That is not the expression of a free mind.

Ken, this entire essay is deduced down to a stark singularity:

Is it higher toned to dead or accountable? That’s it. That’s all I want to know.

If you can decide that serenity of beingness is more desirable than fear, then you can decide which is higher toned: being dead or being accountable?

But Brian, the answer is on the material you posted above! What do your materials state? Being dead (body death) is higher on the tone scale than accountable. Or are you now going to challenge the idea of spirits (or as we call such in Scientology – “thetans”)?

Try to avoid ad hominem comments but I’m sorry, FP once again manages to provide us with all the prohibitive evidence one needs when considering the value and validity of this subject.
His responses remind me of those I occasionally get from JWs and others who continue to quote the bible at me after having made it perfectly clear to them from the outset that I’m an atheist. Nuts.

And yet I recall you mentioned you were on staff for over 30 years harboring the disagreements you have now – and you say I am nuts! Seemed to take you a long time to come to any decision then eh? Did you get any auditing or training? Probably not eh! You probably spent most of your time doing what you are accusing others of now doing.

Now you even misunderstand my comment which was fairly straightforward. You are just embarrassing yourself further to anyone who has done some auditor training or studied even basic Scientology, unlike most of the “experts” commenting here.

Haha! Always the concern about fence sitters! I have stated many times both the Church and the Indies don’t want any riff-raff A-Jers so thanks Brain for driving them away or making their daft minds up for them. Well done! A Commendation for that man’s Ethics file. OSA should sign him up for a billion years!

Brian,
Being new to this whole scene leaves me a little bit behind the eight ball, but I absolutely agree. I keep waiting to catch a glimpse of some magical argument that will make me understand the appeal- or at least something that makes sense in any form, but I haven’t heard a single original idea from anyone who has jumped in to “defend” Hubbard’s idiocy. It’s like all thought has been sucked out of them leaving a hollow husk that is only able to parrot their “leader”.

It’s like one of LRons science fiction stories: the evil leader has sucked all humanity out of the drones and unleashed them to destroy the planet…do you think it would sell???

Well I have never seen such mass confusion in this article and the following comments……and pontification…my god…(nothing funnier than a person that takes themselves seriously(Will Rodgers)…. not enough soap boxes to go around here

I suggest you go back and study the PDCs… and learns something…the tone scale is nothing more than the harmonics of energy waves in this Universe…. then go observe .. or not…. I don’t care one way or the other if you do… find that attitude on the tone scale 🙂

I think you must be correct. I cannot see any other explanation. The whole thing is just nutzo and insane and fits right in with the deluded and deranged mind of the whack job called L.R.Hubble Bubble? Is that his name? I’m sorry but I just cannot remember his name.

I very much like the way that Wynski seems to remember the names of the most insane members of this crazy cult.

I would appreciate if Wynski would give all these assholes each one name that we all could use forever more when referring to them.

I especially like the names “Scamology” and “Scamatology” and I have adopted both of those (always). Wynski also has some real good names for Hubbard. Unfortunately they escape me at the moment.

The one request I’d like to make is that so many of us seem to think nothing of calling DM by some name that reflects his physical shortcomings (that is sort of a pun) or calling LRH by some name that reflects his fatass self. What was that name from The Shawshank Redemption? The one the inmates all called the overweight prisoner who died on the first night? I think it was “FatAss”. No?

Anyway, it seems to me that it must hurt many people who suffer from some physical maladies like being overweight or being very short and I don’t think it’s right to make fun of these jerkoffs due to some physical condition that is not really their fault. The problem with doing that is many innocent bystanders are easily harmed as a result.

So, I would like to say that it’s a problem to call any of these creeps by a name that reflects their physical shortcomings if that will cause them harm in the long run and I’m guessing that people here will understand just what I mean by that.

I apologize if this post does not make a whole lot of sense to you. I just think it’s wrong to call some of these monsters by names that will cause harm to other EOS (Enemies of Scamology). It should be plenty easy to call them names that do not remind us all of the creeps who use this scam to harm others.

Anyone who attempts to justify and agree with these absurd numerical relations is experiencing mind control and is in a hypnotic state. They should be treated as a casualty of Hubbard’s accomplishment of controlling the minds of men. ?

Ken,
The tone scale is a useless piece of dreck that has helped ruin lives and has absolutely no redeemable qualities. You illustrate your lack of insight by trying to defend the indefensible. If you don’t like the posts and commenters then don’t post and comment. This “tone scale” has absolutely no scientific basis and if you try to equate it with actual research you are bound to be quickly disabused of your theories on ‘harmonic energy waves’ – this also holds true about all of the other scribbling from Hubbard. Brian is dissecting the inconsistencies and absurdities that Hubbard’s twisted mind birthed, and in the process is helping people who are now able to clearly reason and think independently. Once you are deprogrammed and rejoin the joyous human existence, without the twisted crap that Hubbard seemed compelled to spew, then come back and reread some of the posts- then you will finally see why this topic is important. All cults are predicated on control. Hubbard was an obsessive narcissistic control freak who wouldn’t understand the human condition if it came up and spat on him. I’m guessing you are foolproofs replacement from the “Hole”.

Holy smoke- did I accidentally summon FP back to the comments section by mentioning his name?? I apologize profusely if that’s the case. I feel like I should try walking naked around an ancient live oak under a full moon while spitting over my left shoulder… hmmm- do you think that would work to banish him back to the ninth circle of idiocy from which he sprang?

Haha! You tell him Ken! 2nd Phenomenon Brian obviously wants us to explain it all for him and the other members of his Gleefully Misunderstood Club. He is more or less pleading with us to do so now, wanting a “good argument” and all that.

Thanks for mentioning Glee FP. My next essay will be on the Awareness Scale and the continued placement of non sequiturs for hypnotic effects, like having the word Elation which means being happy was down in the bottom of the awareness scale. Confusion and non sequiturs are a hypnotic technique that Hubbard actually describes.

This is what happens Brian when you can only think literally and not in concepts. Actually I think Dave COB should add some examples of your essays in to the Student Hat materials as a warning to students that such could happen to them if they don’t look up and clear terms conceptually. And we all like a laugh as well!

Well you said it, “no one”. Have you noticed that hardly anyone responds to your comments as even the anti-Scientologists recognize a know-best charlatan jumping on whatever bandwagon seems to be rolling by. Galling eh!

Your so endearing foolproof. I’m sure you are a complete success in every aspect of you life as you seem to have the answer for everything. Must be nice to be perfect…..(by the way, I guess you’ve never looked up the meaning of sarcasm either- oh yeah, you only use the LRH dictionary)

Brian, I’ve really loved reading your essays and this one really is the icing. As ex staff, the journey out has been marked by some key revelations for me (and I suspect for a few others too) perhaps starting with the realization that management was more or less clueless, and then that such a shocking culture of violence existed right at the very top.
Another significant one for me was discovering the depths of deception at the big events.
But the biggest has definitely been the dissection and exposure of how truly flawed the subject itself is and ultimately of course how calculating and wicked the man behind had to be.
‘How the fuck….’ is a good question indeed.
Your analysis is spot on (as are those of TC and others) and I’m embarrassed to admit that it’s all so bloody obvious when highlighted in this way and yes, maybe it’s not so much ‘How the fuck…’ but Why the fuck did I not see this before?
And therein may lie a clue as to the extent of the brainwash. To get people to think they are looking at one thing and convince them it’s something else.
The tone scale is one of the first things you’re introduced to but in spite of being riddled with clues as to the true character of its author, as astutely noted here, it’s taken at face value and rarely questioned. Because that’s not what you’re conditioned to do if you’re a blind-sided scientologist.
Good stuff and thanks Brian. It’s officially over 7 years now but still shedding more layers of that insipid nonsense.
And thank you Mike, Leah and all those active souls who continue to expose the abuses and hypocrisies behind this scam (and that of the Watchtower – another fascinating education thanks in no small part to Lloyd Evans)

Brian…one of my fav posters…. Absolutely awesome essay. Cuts right thru the bullshit. So easy to see the manipulation and the stages of indoctrination when viewing from the outside looking in. Especially, connecting this to how easy it is for the still-in’s to disconnect from their loved ones. This emotional detachment is a learned behavior and one tubby was quite familiar with and quite good at teaching others to do. Well done!….and very Boho pic of you. Love it!

So that’s telling… because yeah, when you look at some of the other sub-zero emotions you see some actually human traits that have merit and use: ‘protecting bodies’, ‘needing bodies’, ‘sacrifice’

Everyone of those is noble and human, to want to protect someone, to need someone, to sacrifice yourself for someone or something… but in the UpsideDown of Scientology I suppose it’s not “pro-survival” so you need to strip that “Human Response and Emotion” through hours of drilling

A never-in I am, but still fascinated and always finding useful bits and cautionary tales in the essays, stories, and posts from everyone, but thanks Brian for an elegantly articulated argument against basic and bedrock LRH “tech” – they may not advertise the sub-zero emotions on the web but they are alive and well in the materials – and they indeed remain as absurd and insidious as ever. Looking forward to future essays.

Brian – once again another great essay. Have to agree with you on all points. Again I cringe at the thought of spending endless hours having to learn the tone scale by heart up and down to perfection, argh. And yes the death and all the below death made absolutely no sense to me either.

FP – no need to tell me again how I had major MU’s and was PTS, etc., etc.

The Tone Scale gives an observation which was written down in the book, Science of Survival. It goes only here up to Tone 4.0. Some later work figures around with it. Okay, some Tone Level are on a wrong place on the scale. But surely Hate and Love is not a Tone Scale by Hubbard. It is not. If it is on the Scale, also like Accountable, it is not given by original Works. I have never seen the above given Tone Scale. This one includes a lot of nonsens. As said above, the Tone Scale is the Scale of Affinity. There is also a scale of Communikation and Reality. It is part of Hubbards description of ARC. This is not my meaning. It is simply said from Hubbard. Accountable is something which belongs to Action .. so you can be it with Shame or with Blame – for it alone it is no emotion. A Tone Level has always have to have a Flow. No Flow no Emotion. All emotions flow with Affinity. If not, it would be not there.

Still grasping at straws, when Hubbard’s “work” is revealed as nonsense?

That particular version of the tone scale was sold in Scientology bookstores in the 1970s and 1980s, as part of a book and as a poster – at the bottom (I checked) it says Copyright L. Ron Hubbard. It’s just an illustration of what was then in the Dianetics and Scientology Technical Dictionary:

And speaking of nonsense, and Science of Survival, let’s not forget that in that book, Hubbard also claims that the tone scale is associated with body odor:

“The body is normally sweet-smelling down to 2.0 but begins to exude chronically certain unpleasant effluvia from 2.0 down. Individuals from 2.0 down commonly have bad breath. Their feet may have a considerable odour. The musk glands are very active. The sweat has a peculiar smell. Sexual organs emit a repelling odour. And various body exhaust functions are not under very good control. The person may have to urinate or defecate under slight stresses or may weep easily for no apparent cause. This column has not been added to this chart because it has not been thoroughly explored but is only known in a general way. Any slightly or greatly repulsive physical odour from an individual does, however, indicate a tone scale position below 2.0. It is amusing to note that in the Orient wives are commonly selected by the sweetness of their perspiration. This is a very reliable test for position on the tone scale. People who have bad breath as they are processed lose it when they are above 2.0 on the tone scale. People who are temporarily suppressed below 2.0 commonly have bad breath.” (p. 146)

Sympathy is below Numb? I don’t think so. Sympathy is a normal human emotion. A person is numb when they are in shock. One has sympathy when they hear of a death of someone’s loved one – they feel sympathy for them. They can relate with them.

The Tone Scale is full of holes and it is part of the brainwashing L Ron Hubbard used to control the members to not emote while he fleeced them dry and shattered their families and minds.

.94 Numb is what? .9 Sympathy is what? The only brainwashing is done by the people who do not look. You may give sympathy to a dump person – you can also give fear. What helps more. But why is numb an emotion?

Aldeboni,
Think about what reason Hubbard had to even create a “scale” to begin with- what was his purpose? What good did it do to anyone?? What was his underlying motivation to roll this out- the only possible motivation would be to control people’s emotional responses and exert control over them. This is a classic tactic in control. Chose something that you can designate as negative, identify it in a person, then “teach” them how to overcome whatever is arbitrarily decided is “bad”. The entire time, you would be stripping away their independent thought process to mold them into the “perfect” cult member. Hubbard used this in an insidious manner and to great success apparently. If you can come up with a positive reason for this nonsense, let me know- it remains, to me, a glimpse into the first way to getting people to bend to someone else’s will- like calling non-Scientologists “wogs” and telling Scientologists that they are better than everyone else. if they complete training and bow to the will of the “leader” then they will “belong” to an elite group. By “taking someone’s inventory” and putting others down, the person is indoctrinated to beleive in the method.

Me also; I had an edit where POV was corrected to PAC and that did not show so I take it there is some control of what posters want posted where the original author decides — I am not familiar with this person but did post an elaborate workup on exotic work in Neurology where *actual* OT Capacity as the Upper Indoc has it can be crossed inadvertently with Clinical Disease Conditions and as someone with experience as such you are or likely will be familiar with some authors posting interesting remarks made in that setting ▬ Mr. Hubbard basis for «scale» is clearly documented in his writings

First he is an Author & Philosopher by his own description and none of what he wrote up is going to get anybody in trouble with any purported «Wall of Fire» as I have seen it directly and had fun correcting it in another whom is low correlation between TLE / and this yet is seeing clearly right in my own mind

Interictal psychosis closely resembles schizophrenia and is prevalent in his early work on intergalactic stuff that has no comparative in any sensible anything — such things as elation with EEG Spiking at onset of Sleep and so-on I have deep studies in / on

On the below death scale “Owning Bodies” might be okay. At least you have something to show for it……(joke)

College psychology students probably have a Scale of Emotions they study but it’s unlikely they delve into below body death “emotions”. Where did he come up with such things? Some people say he copied his scales from others but you gotta give him credit for “original thinking” on the below death scale…… (joking again)

Richard,
Psychology doesn’t have a scale of emotions based on good or bad- we study impacts of emotions, mood disorders, and things that can affect various things in life like grief, and other emotions that can influence human behavior. Most “emotional scales” are referred to in “self help” books and several people that have theories regarding emotional states. I am unfamiliar with anything like the tone scale in psychology. I have seen several articles and we may look at something called emotional intelligence which assesses someone’s awareness of their own and others emotions and how they impact actions and thoughts. But there isn’t a scale based on something being good or bad- that’s not something that is workable in any sense. You feel an emotion- it just is. It’s not a bad or good emotion- it is just an emotion. If it interferes with day to day life, it can be an issue that may need to be addressed, but it wouldn’t be called “bad”. It is usually something that helps you feel human. The only time it may be addressed is if it is overwhelming (such as grief that spirals into depression, or obsessive thoughts that cripple day to day functioning) we look at emotion in the aspect of mood, behavior, cognition and other areas, but again, it’s not a scale of good or bad unless there is overt difficulties in dealing with emotions.

Kat, typically – and predictably – there were predecessors that Hubbard (or one of his often unacknowledged co-authors and collaborators) may have cribbed from or plagiarized, in scales of emotions published in the mental hygiene literature of the 1920s and 1930s, and other examples such as the Mental-Emotional Health Rating Chart in 1940s editions of Hygiene and Health: A Student Manual for Health Education Courses. Hubbard might also have seen such things during his time in Naval hospitals, where he picked up bits and pieces of outdated psychological practices (such as the abreaction therapy that probably formed much of the basis for Dianetics, which the Navy finally abandoned not long after for turning out to produce little in the way of long-term benefits, and sometimes even making patients worse – traits that seem to have carried over into Hubbard’s “work”).

Volney Mathison, the hypnotist who invented the e-meter, and a number of other ideas Hubbard stole – and who warned against Hubbard’s use of surreptitious and covert hypnosis – also published an Electropsychometric Tone Scale, though I’m not certain who might have been copying from whom at that point.

Science of Survival – also Book Two. First of it belongs to trustworthy. Who is trustworthy for you or for auditing or whatever. It was used this way. The original scale is up to 4.0 Enthusiasm. The numbers come from the e-meter scale – which was the original idea. The tones lower than zero are described in a congress some time later. On Human Behaviour or so. Hubbard had later never spoken about the Tone Scale. He has also never spoken about the full Scale – not for my knowingness. Maybe somebody else did figure this scale for a joke. All of it came with his originations about ARC as Understanding. It became the scale for checking ARC. Maybe, as said here, for controlling it. It seems that it was used this way – I remember that it was said that you must be 0.5 higher than the other .. or something like that, for changing his tone.

The Tone Scale is usefull if you can check the tone of others. If you can. Certainly you need only four of it, and you have the same result. It is, In, Out, disturb and stuck. Have you ever tried it this way – it is the way Hubbard did build it … and somebody else figured something like accountable .. it is worthless and senseless to split this scale deeper and deeper.

See, somebody around can be at tone 2.000 or 4.000 .. it is like heat, you cannot go deeper than 0 Kelvin, but you can go above 20.000 and more. That is the reason for inventing a Tone Scale. Not really important. An actor can try to play a game with it.

Al-
Do you even realize what you’re saying? It’s gobbledygook that makes absolutely no sense- none. You’re still trying to make sense out of something senseless- and it still doesn’t work. You CANT check the “tone” of others because the “tome scale” isn’t real- the entire idea of using this for anything is based on a fundememtal fallacy- it’s like stating the earth is flat because Hubbard said it is, regardless of what all scientific research proves AND the fact that you’ve sailed around the globe and never fell off- it’s mindboggling!

Makes sense- Hubbard stoke a lot of his stuff from different areas- generally not sound principles or true science, which shows his ability to actually understand how the mind works was extremely limited. For someone who wrote science fiction stories, the fact that he metaphorically plagiarized ideas from others is interesting.

Hi Kat – Thanks for the reply. After I posted my comments I reviewed the other comments again and had some afterthoughts. Here are a couple, some in reply to you and others in general.

In my Scn experience of 1976 to 1982 I knew nothing of Hubbard’s background and the dirty and vicious tricks used by the organization. Scn was a legitimate self improvement and self awareness subject to me and didn’t address any form of mental illness. My goal was to become a professional auditor and make a living at it. The mysterious abilities and procedures promised at the OT levels were hidden but the lower levels were achieved by one on one counselling/auditing. Even as a self improvement subject I was dealing with a person’s innermost thoughts and I took my job seriously as did the Case Supervisors and others in the orgs and missions where I participated.

I never bought into the grandiose claims for Clear mentioned in DMSMH. I had a “Let’s see what happens.” attitude.

Back then the tone scale had legitimacy to me as far as people having a “chronic tone” on a simplistic happy to sad frame of reference. Memorizing the scale wasn’t required, at least in my experience. It was an observational tool which might be useful at times with neither good nor bad necessarily attached to the observation.

Hubbard writes “body death” rather than just “death” which would be written on a secular scale. This is in line with the Scn tenet of the immortal thetan. The below body death descriptions with maybe one or two exceptions would be looked at by scientologists as “states of awareness” or “states of being” rather than emotions.

I know nothing about mainstream psychology or psychotherapy procedures so I can’t make any comparisons.

The “tones” below body death and perhaps above exhilaration would be philosophical considerations. Other than Hubbard’s gibberish and writing things down off the top of his head he may have simply written the scale as he saw things with no premeditation of using it as a form of indoctrination and programming which is just my 2 cents.

Richard,
Thanks for your take on it. I don’t agree with your assessment that Hubbard didn’t have a “plan” per se when he rolled this out. It really is a set up for control over people. You say there was no real “good or bad” put to the scale but a number scale with specific emotions or philosophical ideas has a basis in ‘good or bad’- otherwise it would just be a list of things. It’s very subtle but it is powerful and a commonly used tool in cults (not this specific one, but something like it)- as I mentioned in another post, by assigning a “low” level, the implication is that it is “bad” whether the person looking at it realizes it consciously. Therefore, someone can target you easily by ascribing a “bad” thought or feeling to you and admonishing you for having it. It becomes an easy thing to control. I would call this a “gateway” into mind control- it appears innocuous but has a much greater power that that.
I’m glad you never bought into it, but if you read the posts you know that some people still beleive it is an irrevocable truth.

Thanks for this important blog, Mike! & Hey, Brian, you continue to fucking blow my mind! Many of the reasons have been better articlated above by others, so I humbly add my admiration and gratitude for your insightful essays dissecting the b.s.; they are both healing & brilliant. Thank you!

Brian-
Another well thought out analysis of Hubbard’s tone scale!
You excellently debunked that the tone scale is flawed (and is in fact ridiculous) with your testable hypotheses.
Reading your articles have been a joy. You used an intellectually accepted Scientific method to disprove Scientology principle.
Peace-Love-Joy to everyone who has left the horrid realm of Scientology.

I don’t think you’re using the right definition of accountable. The first definition I found was “in a position where people have the right to criticize you or ask you why something happened.”

Given that being fully responsible was given as being a v good thing on the Chart of Attitudes, I think this breast beating over the horror of thinking it’s not a good thing to go around feeling ‘accountable’ is a bit desperate.

What obscure source provides that amateurish if not childish sounding definition – a Scientology dictionary?

Your inability to properly cite your source, and the convenience with which you found something obscure to support Hubbard, suggest intellectual impairment or extreme indoctrination – or both. No one is impressed by such sloppy reasoning and communicating, which is part of why Scientology is failing in the world; and it also goes to prove Brian’s point that Hubbard used his manipulation of definitions as a tool to hypnotize his followers until they can longer think for themselves.

And where is “being fully responsible was given as being a v [sic] good thing on the Chart” actually shown? Responsibility is not to be found, so that is yet another point regarding which you are confused, indoctrinated in things that don’t exist, or delusional – perhaps further making Brian’s case.

p.s. In the process of searching, I noticed that 8.0, “Exhiliration” [sic] is misspelled – typical of scientological sloppy-mindedness. The third vowel should be an “a,” not an “i”:

This INDICATES!
Awesome post Brian. Thank you Mike for your Blog.
I feel like a big chunk of Scientological lies came off my Scientology CASE.
This is amazing. Line charging. Needle Floating.
Win after win after win.
Seriously
I love this stuff. It is so helpful to dismantle the poisonous Scientology tech.
This proves “Source” was Sauced!

Well, that just goes to show you that we are all human and we all make mistakes. Even the mighty ASSHOLE was human and he made almost nothing but mistakes.

As far as your wife’s post goes, all I can say is that when I read it, I assumed she was talking about the author of today’s essay, as well.

I guess the reason is that her comment is so much closer to his photo than to the photo of LRH ASSHOLE. But I am human too and I make mistakes. As a matter of fact, on some days I get to feeling like I make more mistakes that everyone else all put together.

I assumed it was LRH that Jill was referring to until Mike replied…So I scrolled back..
And now I have had a good chuckle, and for that, I thank you both..
As a “never in” may I thank both you Brian, and Mike, for educating me in the weird and worrying ways of Scientology..
Please keep up the good work.

Note from that reference that he died like the long-time substance abuser and addict that he was, suffering from the effects of years of alcoholism, and shot up with a “psych” drug to keep him calm. His drinking bottles of rum and scotch in particular, as well as dabbling in drugs, is well documented by those around him in the 1950s and 1960s, and in his own words:

He also makes several mentions of his experimentation and extensive familiarity with drugs early on, such as:

“I took gas [nitrous oxide] as an anesthetic and while under the influence of it….I knew I was slipping through the curtain and into the land of shades.” (Hubbard, diary note of 1 January 1938, published in THE ABERREE, 1961 DEC.)

Glad you find it interesting. The report references Vistaril, which is a drug with several properties and uses, including treating itching, which is what Hubbard apologists claim it was used for – but regardless, it’s still a drug with psychoactive effects, and would have served to help sedate the reportedly agitated and even ranting Hubbard in his final days.

And on the subject of itching, Hubbard’s concept of “body thetans,” spiritual entities infesting people in large numbers, may actually have been a symptom of delusional parasitosis, infamous for causing some drug addicts and the mentally ill to scratch obsessively trying to get imaginary things off their bodies, sometimes to the point of opening sores. And it can be caused by long-term alcoholism and amphetamine abuse, both of which applied to Hubbard. Oh, and Vistaril (hydroxyzine) is one of the drug treatments for delusional parasitosis – maybe there was a particular reason his physician (Denk) chose it….

He probably had multiple heath problems at the end due to his psychological frame of mind and physical decline. I would not be surprised if the itching was psychosomatic. It really must have been sad at the end when he could no longer run away from himself like he did his entire life.

Maybe Hubbard “dropped acid” (LSD) one time and had a bummer and went death on the chemical. Bummer is hippy talk describing a really bad trip, kind of like a nightmare from which you can’t wake up. Someone would need to stay with the person on a bummer to keep him or her grounded until the drug wore off.

As far as I know the only drug mentioned by name as disqualifying someone from joining the sea org is LSD. I’ve read one or two comments by people saying a sea org recruiter tried to convince them that it was another drug like mescaline or something they took so they would still be eligible. Anything for a stat!

Richard,
It is highly likely that he “dropped” acid and did other harder drugs during his time with Parsons dabbling in the occult and trying to make the Antichrist with Majory Cameron and during the Babylon Walking phase of his life.

Brian,
Thanks again for an informative and enlightening article that proves the deep, dark, twisted depths that were Hubbard’s mind. I completely denounce this obsurd idea of placing anything dealing with humanity on a scale that is supposed to be one size fits all. I also note that he placed sacrifice near the bottom of his demented scale. Anyone who knows love (for a parent, partner,sibling or child) knows that sacrifice is a noble thing. I would sacrifice my life for my child, and have made sacrifices for love. I know that only by giving can you truly receive.
Hubbard was a shell of a man (I hesitate to even give him the honor of calling him a man) who knew that he lacked any true connection to another human being- it’s clear in the way he discarded wives and children, and how he never had a single long term friendship. It’s very sad when you think about how much he lost out on due to his inability to understand and feel actual human emotions.
I still think that he placed these items in this order because it made sense to him- if he never had a significant connection, he would devalue anything that reminded him of that fact. He coerced others into thinking as he did to stave off the black hole where his soul should have been. Unfortunately, in the process he devalued everyone he encountered and managed to create a group that prized antisocial tendencies and broke apart truly important human connections. This also allowed him to exert control on others (if your family is taken away, and you think it’s bad to make a sacrifice for others, you are left with very little meaningful humanity).
This scale illustrates his psychopathy brilliantly. He took something at the heart of most religions and perverted it for his own means.
How sad.
Thanks again for the great article- looking forward to more!

Brian, Your deconstruction of the tone scale and the reasons why is absolutely brilliant. I think you can see hubbard through his affirmations. Why no positive, helpful ones? He was too self serving to actually care about genuinely helping struggling souls, as is scientology.

Someone who has some rank in the NOI congratulates Sister Sadiyah for becoming Clear #9. ??? If that’s not a misstatement then maybe if you didn’t get to Clear without Allah’s blessings and being a Muslim then you didn’t really get there. Who knows. The squirreling continues.

Please, guys. If you are not “in,” please don’t ever get “in.” As a “public,” you don’t even qualify as a full human being. I am (and you as well) are “non-existant.” (it is -34) They told me so at the last “event.” I was really devastated. The worst thing I ever did was to take that OCA (Oxford Capacity Assessment). It was a very bad mistake. Three calls and three texts messages every day from my “C/S” (case supervisor, course supervisor and the director of technology. In Seattle, every event is a fund-raiser and a new reminder that “Well, you can’t be audited because you are “too low.” It’s true. I am ashamed.

Wow, I would’ve been a complete failure in Scientology. Most of the time, when I read things that L. Ron Hubbard wrote, or listen to any L. Ron Hubbard recordings, I don’t understand very much of it. It makes me question my reading (or listening) comprehension abilities! The man’s ramblings simply make no logical sense to me. They don’t even begin to make sense to me.

likewise Save , most of it is word salad. I would have had hell of a job and would have been up all night trying to fathom any of it out. And then to memorize it…WOW…. I guess that’s what a ‘good and loyal” Sc did.

What we were part of?? WTF… By reading other articles related to hypnotism, I noticed that there were quite some techniques being used at the same time, from the voice of Hubbard in conferences, subliminal sound messages in events, forced acceptance of “truths” and probably many more. I unfortunately stayed in that nightmare for more then 3 decades. Luckly I woke up, and see it all. Really… again what the f… we were part of??

Awesome, Brian. While in it’s amazing how much you just accept without any thought, or at best a fleeting, “huh”? If only we could have read the affirmations instead of the axioms!

It’s truly sad as I look back at the funerals of family members that I attended while in and shortly after getting out, and my inability to truly feel the grief until years later. Your essay is so needed.

Thank you Brian. I am deprogramming and restoring more and more common sense and sanity as you post. I also love Regraded Beings posts. Arnie Lerma did a great job too. All very helpful to deprogram Scientology out and restore your right mind.

“So why did he place this non emotion on the Emotional Tone Scale” … The Tone Scale is basically the Scale of Affinity. Means 0.0 Death is following no affinity? Affinity is a flow. It does not end with death. It goes deeper. The Tone Scale is wrong. Hate is not a Tone Level. You can have Hate and Love with every Tone Level as given above. Simply, because it has nothing to do with Affinity. You can use Boredom with Hate or with Love .. it gives only different Communikation and Reality to the Affinity …

aldeboni, you must be using a VERY different definition of the word “affinity” when you say “The Tone Scale is basically the Scale of Affinity”.

Affinity is a natural or spontaneous liking or sympathy for something/someone. (For instance I have an affinity for songs by the Beatles.)

You say, “Affinity is a flow. It does not end with death.” HUH?? A flow??? This sounds like one of those 60’s figurines that said “love is . . .” So if I go to the Funeral Home and the “guest of honor” hates (1.4) the guy in line behind me but is contented (2.8) to see me this will be obvious to everyone?

I’m not trying to offend you, but you may want to take another stab (using words that have actual meanings) at expressing whatever thought you are trying to convey.

Brian: Holy Xenu!
I have been meaning to say for a long time now
You rock! You are amazing! Thank you!
You are accurate and make total sense as you Disrict L Ron Hubbard’s tech.
Wow! I am blown away.
I did not even realize I was not thinking about this when I completed Scientology courses and studied the Tone Scale umpteen times and passed everything.
El Ron Hubbard makes you memorize the Tone Scale as a patter drill so I believe your attention is on completing the drill not understanding the words to see if they make any sense to the position on the Tone Scale.

Wow!!

Very Covert technology used by El Ron used to control the minds of men

I am so happy I am out of that Cult. I am so grateful they did not destroy me.

I have money, my sanity and health. I am spiritually free. We all are very lucky.

Thank you Brian

I heard snaps in my brain as common sense was restored today. Thank you Brian. This was huge for me.

I love all of you. I am so grrateful for Brian, Regraded Being, Mike Rinder, Leah Remini and all of you who have such courage.

SAM- I don’t recall needing to memorize the tone scale. In the 1970’s Dianetic auditing came before the Scn grades. I was training on the grades when I blew so maybe I missed that. Chinese schooling and memorizing the tone scale which some people say was required is heavy duty indoctrination and programming. Sorry you went through that.

Thank you Brian Lambert, your essay on the bullshit aspects of Lron’s Tone Scale is nearly right on. I must take exception to the line that Lron was “a supreme master at psycho-manipulation”. He was good at it, but not a master by any means.

His ‘religion’ could only survive in a very controlled environment and with lots of repression thrown in. $cientology never appealed to the wider world and all Lron could do was find some shills and sales people to rope in more marks. Some of those marks stayed around, but most escaped. Once the money aspect was removed by killing off the Mission Holders, Lron doubled down on the repression and drove more away.

It was only by a good TV campaign with the Volcano motif that any new meat came in the door after Lron went hiding. The ‘salesmanship’ that was the heart of the scam slowly disappeared after that.

Thanks for posting the “Tone scale in full’ in your article.. I had wondered what had gotten your shorts in such a knot about the tone scale when you posted earlier.. Now I see what set you off. When we used the tone scale (1967 version) auditors I knew mostly viewed Ron’s ‘tones’ below 0.0 as more akin to attitudes than to emotions. But, hey, this was Ron’s game. He was redefining words all the time anyway. Our take was that, after body death, very few thetans hung around much less stayed in a corpse and went down down down to minus whatevers.

What you posted is not a tone scale but a ‘TOON SCALE’. I mean, what juvenile mind posted this thing for children to be entertained by? Sheesh already. Makes me think that there aren’t any adults left in Scientology.

“The cartoons are irrelevant. The number values are relevant” .. but the word given for the emotion seems very significant. Have never looked at it in such a way. I do not know what are emotions for you. Is it not a demonstrated description of your affinity? Not? What is emotion?

I never paid any attention to the cartoons, probably because I only looked at them in a book or in other small print. Looking at them here enlarged and in full color they are pretty funny. The cartoonist was creative. Credit where credit is due.

I am struck by your comment that LRH was not stupid. But judging from the rest of your blog entry as well as everything we now know about him, he was an incredibly selfish individual who did not care one bit about anyone besides himself.

How to describe this maniac? Can you pick one adjective that best describe this character?

Someone who decided they wanted some money – just a little bit – say maybe $10 or $20 – and they wouldn’t care one bit if the entire world were destroyed in the process – just as long as they managed to get that tiny bit of money for themselves.

Given everything we now know about him, I would guess the closest adjective to describe this character is, ummmm ……… something like “selfish” or “self-centered” or “parsimonious”?

I can’t think of anything much closer than “selfish”. But surely there there must be some word better than than that? What is that word that best describes this insane trait?

Surely when a character is that extreme, it has to be something like “sociopath” or “psychopath”. Someone who would not care one bit if the entire world were destroyed just as long as he managed to get a little something for himself?

That seems pretty clear to be a form of insanity. After all, no amount of money could ever be worth anything if the entire world was destroyed in the process. But is “psychopath” really close enough? Somehow, I get the feeling there must be a stronger adjective that could be used here. Some word more closely tied to “insane”? What is that word? I can’t think of it just now.

Skyler, the word that comes to mind for me is “meglomaniac” – 1. A psychopathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of wealth, power, or omnipotence. 2. An obsession with grandiose or extravagant things or actions.

Sums him up pretty well, I think. He spent his adult life crafting a web of lies, deceit and mental and emotional extortion of others.

Devious, demonic and meglomanic all look good to me. So much closer than just “selfish”. Thank you so much Briget and Brian.

I really enjoyed reading today’s essay – even though I only saw the Tone Scale once and it just looked silly to me. As I recall, “HIDING” was at the very bottom when I saw it and I always thought, “But that’s exactly what LRH ASSHOLE is doing on the ocean in his ship.”

At any rate, it seems pretty clear to me why he never valued family and didn’t care if families were destroyed. It’s because he could never manage to keep his family together. Since he only cared about himself, he must have figured that since he could not have a family, they must have no value.

On Tony’s Blog…..
So the well known “rag paper” The National Enquirer posted a picture & “blurb”claiming that it’s a picture of the long time missing but now found Shelly Miscavige…..Well, THIS is what I have to say:

I have to say I totally DISAGREE with the statement: “We are well aware that our publishing a story like this is mostly a waste of effort”……………….

IMHO this entire story will bring MORE QUESTIONS & ATTENTION to just WHO IS Shelly Miscavige & WHY IS she considered “still missing”. The National Enquire in an effort to SELL more of it’s “rag paper” has before printed these kind of stories so BLESS THEM for bringing MORE attention to “Scientology’s Denial” that Shelly Miscavige is just fine, healthy, wonderful, happy & that SHE has told the local “authorities” she does NOT want to be contacted by LEAH or anyone ELSE.

Wow, the local California Police Department FAILS to SHOW ANY documentation that they have PHYSICALLY SEEN Shelly, they have NOT given anything other that a statement about the entire scenario. THEY do not know her personally, any female about the same height & weight could have appeared in front of them, but the Police Department still has NOT shown even THAT.

The woman in this picture is definitely NOT Shelly….I am no rocket scientist & I have not met Shelly nor do I personally know her, but the facial features do NOT in anyway look even remotely like Shelly…UNLESS she has had massive plastic surgery. I am SURE Valerie & Leah who KNOW her personally would be able to guarantee with 100% accuracy that THIS is NOT a picture of Shelly Miscavige.

HEY National Enquirer…..a big SHOUT OUT THANK YOU! Now people will BUY your paper & with any and all HOPE another investigation into WHERE IS SHELLY MISCAVIGE WILL BE REOPENED!!…WOO HOO

Hubbards “affirmations” said it all to me. Obvious narcissist, obvious sociopath. I appreciate how you analyze his weird numerology to spell out in greater detail what the tone scale does to Scientologists’ minds and hearts. Sadly, some of that spread further than Scientology. In the “psychic institutes,” there was a saying that “Sympathy falls between sh-t and shinola in the dictionary.” Factually false, and the point of it was like in the tone scale: sympathy makes you a sap, deserving of whatever bad is done to you. I never embraced that attitude, but it does distort one’s values to be immersed in that kind of subculture. It does require some deprogramming of oneself after getting away from it.

Brian, Thanks for taking the time to do this series on the Tone Scale. Great analysis.
Hubbard, I think, was trying to eliminate the idea of the Christian conscience. The tone scale is actually to me a low order of operation. Hubbard had the idea of a “theoretically immortal” thetan and he simply fleshed in emotions to fit that.
My personal view is that Hubbard eliminated Glory, Joy and shame which are really positive emotions. Joy is essential in Christianity and Buddhism. “Joy to the world!” This in both religions is the emotion for victory over death. Hubbard leaves it out. Glory is reserved to God-like qualities and the “OT” levels. Hubbard never reaches any OT state because he does not understand the compassion of God. Moral shame is essential in both Christianity and Buddhism as well. One must have some shame in any mis-deeds of the past. So in auditing you go in a complete circle. There is never any “bite” to it. You cannot be on a spiritual journey without the above. Hubbard tried to keep the idea of Lucifer as the light bearer and then took it to the Satan as enemy idea. Milton’s “Paradise Lost” is really an Occult document resting on the idea of God. Hubbard took the reverse path and tried to reach God as Lucifer. He failed and his tone scale was the key to his ideas.
Real Joy in Christianity is the birth of the Savior. In Buddhism, it is the idea that Samsara can really be overcome.

George,
I posted earlier about the placement of sacrifice on this “scale”. I’m sure that it is a glimpse into what he actually thought of other religions, especially Christianity- Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good: one of the fundamental teachings in Christianity. That he placed it waaay below death tells me a lot! Most religions and philosophies have an element of sacrifice- I imagine Hubbard rejected that. He was obviously drawn to satanism and the occult- both of which are predicated on self indulgence and Heidonism rather than traditional enlightenment pathways. This scale actually gives us some very valuable insights into his personality.

Important Quotes

If the org slumps during this transition period, don't engage in "fund raising"
or "selling postcards" or borrowing money. Just make more income with Scientology.
L Ron Hubbard From HCOPL URGENT ORG PROGRAMMING

"We own a tremendous amount of property. We own a tremendous amount of material and so forth, and it keeps growing.
But that’s not important. When buildings get important to us, for God sakes, some of you born revolutionists will you please blow up central headquarters".
L Ron Hubbard Lecture 31 Dec 1960

"Personal integrity is knowing what you know. What you know is what you know and to have the courage to know and say what you have observed".- LRH from Personal Integrity

"It is necessary to happiness of man, that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving; it consists of professing to believe what he does not believe." Thomas Paine

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” - Martin Luther King

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” - Martin Luther King

“There comes a time when silence is betrayal.” - Martin Luther King Jr.

“Communication is the universal solvent” - L Ron Hubbard

“When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.” Thomas Paine

"Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world would do this, it would change the earth." William Faulkner

"The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual's own reason and critical analysis." Dalai Lama